BE SATISFIED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

1 Timothy 6:6-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The quest for constant material gain in life is nothing short of folly.

Why?

Because the world seduces people into thinking their prestige and worth is found in things that are temporal. It’s happened through the ages.

Go back to biblical times. There were great empires all with leaders who lived in magnificent opulence. They displayed their power by building incredible structures laden with rich metals. And there would be incessant boasting about the vast depth of their riches, from territory to weaponry and fighting men to livestock and precious metals.

But here’s the thing. None of them persevered. Not one.

From the Egyptians to the Assyrians to the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, no biblical empire survived. All fell and their riches were lost to someone else, plundered by the empire that defeated them. All the time and effort invested in reaching worldly prominence was wasted in the end, only momentary in the big picture of history.

This attitude of finding false satisfaction through the pursuit of affluency wasn’t isolated to leaders of empires. For as we saw in yesterday’s message, there were people in the Ephesian church who were bringing in false teaching in order to try and profit off of godliness, all the while encouraging anyone who would embrace their ideals to do likewise.

And so we find Paul writing to his missionary partner and pastor of the Ephesian church, Timothy, on the matter (1 Timothy 6:3-5) before adding some additional guidance to support his point that Christ believers should come to just be satisfied with the simple provisions provided by the Lord, not allowing their focus to shift from Him to the offerings of the world. Look again at Paul’s words in verses 6 through 8:

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

In His Sermon on the Mount, we find our Savior Jesus speaking on the matter of finding true worth in life. Here’s what He had to say in Matthew’s Gospel:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:19-21, 15-33

With all this, we should be asking ourselves, “What do we treasure most?” Are we like the rulers of the great world empires or the false teachers in the Ephesian church, only focused on worldly gain? Or are we following the advice of Jesus and foregoing the treasure on earth to store up treasures in Heaven by seeking His Kingdom and righteousness?

If we do as Jesus calls us to do, we will affirm the assertion of Paul that “godliness with contentment is great gain” and be satisfied that we have the basic essentials to live, such as food and clothing, whole we fully serve the Lord who provides for our needs.

In the end translation, we were born into this world with nothing, emerging naked and helpless from our mother’s womb, and guess what? We will die one day and nothing we have accumulated will go with us. Not a single thing. Everything will be left behind except for memories we may have left and even those will typically fade away through time.

So what are we really achieving when we spend so much of our time chasing after worldly significance?

Mostly, we are wasting valuable time we could spend investing in what is truly valuable, the salvation of those who do not believe in Jesus and are on their way to eternal damnation and Hell.

The message from God’s word today is to be satisfied, content in knowing you are saved, victorious, and spiritually wealthy, simply believing in Jesus who promised to be with us and provide for our needs until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20) as we carry out His disciple making call.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.